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Old Jun 27, 2012, 3:46 am
  #18  
berlindave
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Berlin
Programs: AA EXP, Lifetime Platinum, 2.6M
Posts: 177
you didnt get screwed at all dude. the plane was late. no FA can possibly tell you anything about ground ops and connection times. No one literally knows how late a plane will be until theyre given takeoff clearance by the tower. meaning, they all hope it's not late...but that's the best they can do. they got you to mallorca right? the same day? count yourself lucky!!!! most US airlines would leave you in the airport with MAYBE a 5 dollar voucher for a sandwich and say "see you tomorrow".

Originally Posted by shadabing
We recently took a trip to europe. Used miles and did lufthansa first from lax to Fra. Obviously amazing. Not comparing to AB. We've taken regional stuff in europe many a time. We know what to expect. AB so lied to us, delayed us and handled us so poorly. They purport to be a "cool" hip airline where they are all about "you." They were all about them.

We were going Venice to Mallorca. So it would be a connection through DUS. The connection was not very tight but close enough...1 hour. Of course, the vce to dus was delayed. I spoke with a rep and they said, "no problem with connection and only a few minutes late." 30 minutes later still late and i asked the same kind question. Now more pissed at me, "only few minutes late." i said no problem i was just curious what options there were if i missed my connection. They promised it won't happen.

When i got on the plane 45 minutes late i asked the attendant. She showed my connecting boarding pass to the pilot. She came back and said... you guessed it, "only a few minutes late, no problem with the connection."

Guess what? I missed the connection. No one told us to go see the Air Belin desk. We finally figured it out. They were sending us to Barcelona. Then later that night to Mallorca. No offers. No compensation. No apology. No explanation for the lying, and unreal responses.

I wrote to the CEO of Air Berlin. When i've had problems in the past i write a simple, kind, clear letter to a CEO like of Virgin America and get immediate response and continue to be a customer and appreciate the communication. Hartmut Mehdorn, the ceo, has yet to respond.

This is simple stuff... COMMUNICATE. I know the expectations in europe is different. But they are starting to change. They will soon be doing priority boarding for business. Different kind of amenities and protocol. The world is getting smaller. Harmut has to update his airlines attitude and remember the customer comes first.
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